Halloween is Coming...

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

There is a chill in the air. The leaves are starting to change colors. Fall festivals are in full swing. Pumpkins and cider and corn stalks abound at local markets.

I love this time of year!

We started celebrating a little earlier than usual this year!

Sweetpea's best buddy invited us to go Halloween Camping with them this past weekend! You may remember, this is the same friend who took us camping during the summer. The agenda was full of hayrides, pumpkin carving, a carnival, costume contest, and trick or treating around the campsite! HOW could we resist that?!?

Sweets and I have been looking forward to this for WEEKS!

Finally, Friday arrived and my friend and I loaded up her van and drove our kids (4 between the two of us) down to the campsite to meet our other friend - and Sweetpea's best buddy who were kind enough to invite us and our craziness for the weekend!

We had a BLAST!

It was pretty chilly... which just made it perfect Halloween weather!

The kids had an absolute fantastic time! And so did the adults!

Diabetes even played pretty nicely.

Friday night we had pizza for dinner followed by marshmallows over the fire. Marshmallows are notorious for sending her sky high... but how can she NOT have one when everyone else is?!? Nope - not even an option. I just have to work on my bolusing skills. And - surprisingly - she was actually a little LOW that night. Seems that I over bolused a bit. But it was a low that I caught in the 70's so I'll take that!

You may be wondering how we handle Trick or Treating with the big D.... Did she go? Does she eat the candy? What do we do with it? Does it make me crazy?

Well, I LOVE Halloween! Most of the fun is in the dressing up and going door to door ( or in the case - camper to camper), being with friends, looking at other costumes.... The candy.... well, it's not all about the candy.

I feel pretty strongly about this... I think that kids with Diabetes should be able go trick or treating. I think that it's my responsibility to make it work for my child. To let her be a kid. To let her have fun and be like everyone else.

Of course, I think how we treat our child's diabetes or how we treat our own is a very personal decision. I think that it's important for us to acknowledge this and support one another - even if it's not the way we would do things. Because what works for me might not work for you. And what works for you may not work for me. And that's ok.

So she goes. In the past, we have let her go through her candy and sort it. One pile of things we can use to treat lows. One pile of her favorites (m&m's!). One pile of stuff she won't eat. She has "sold" me her candy before. I take the candy to school for my treasure box and she gets some cash to go buy something with.

This year, things are going to be a little different. As she has gotten older, we are able to add more and different things to hear low treats. Before, the only thing she would eat was Smarties. Now, we have added Starburst and Skilltes to that list. And she's also found that she likes Hershey bars. And gum. And other things, too. So... this year we are still going to sort. I'll still take stuff to school. But since there's more that she will eat, she is going to keep it. And eat it.

Our deal is that she can eat ONE piece for dessert after dinner. I think that is reasonable. And honestly, I'd do that regardless of whether she had diabetes or not. NO kid needs to gorge themselves on candy every night.

So, she's happy. She doesn't feel like Diabetes is taking anything away from her holiday. And I feel good about letting her have a little treat.

And I know that the Halloween candy is going to end up just like the Easter candy... still sitting in a bucket on our kitchen counter... less than half eaten before it was long forgotten... just waiting for it's big move to the trash.

We handle Halloween and parades too about the same as you. We take Smarties, Pixie Sticks, and Skittles out of all 3 kids bags and put in a seperate bucket for lows. Then the 3 kids do a trade thing, and whatever they don't like they send in to Daddy's work. Then they get one or two pieces a day, after lunch or after dinner if they make sure to eat a balanced meal.

I totally agree - trick or treating, bring it on! We just eat and bolus and we do it in moderation. As for camping, well, hey, have fun! As for me, it would be a cold day in hell before I camped anywhere near the Halloween holiday - I have watched TOO MANY scary movies!!!!

I agree with you...kids need to be kids. D shouldn't take away all the fun! One of our goals is to teach our son moderation. We wouldn't let either of our kids over-indulge in candy, D or not. Thanks for sharing your story.

The Halloween camping trip sounds like a blast! Charlotte's "dia-versary" in on Halloween...so we celebrate each year by trick-or-treating and making it a big to-do! We handle the candy the same way by dividing into the low pile, snack/treat pile, and give away pile.

I am a type 1 diabetic as well (since 1988 - I'm 28 now). I'm with you, I think the most fun is in the costumes and getting to see everyone out and about. When I was little, we were lucky enough to visit family members for trick or treating and I got different things - money, colored pencils, stickers, gum, etc. AND I LOVED IT! Then, I sold all the candy to my uncle for $5. Haha! But, I think it's okay to indulge A LITTLE and check sugars soon after. My mom did really good at letting me be "normal" - just keeping a closer check on sugars at times like that. Awesome blog! I blog too, but it's not strictly about diabetes. Today's is kind of funny though (I hope) ... it's 'dia-bee-tus barbie' ... haha. :)I look forward to visiting frequently. Cute blog title as well.

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* Disclaimer *

I am not a doctor. I just play one in real life!

I am happy to share with you what works (and what does not) for us as we do battle with Diabetes. However, keep in mind that this is just my opinion and should, in no way, be taken as professional medical advice.

Please contact your doctor or endocrinology team before changing your current treatment.